


First-Night Jitters

by myheroesrbands



Series: Benjamin Rhodes [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: College, Dad!Rhodey, Gen, Original Character(s), rhodey is a good dad, rhodey is a great dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:54:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23507938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myheroesrbands/pseuds/myheroesrbands
Summary: Benjamin Rhodes has settled into his dorm. But he can't help but miss his home.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark
Series: Benjamin Rhodes [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1700251
Comments: 7
Kudos: 52





	First-Night Jitters

**Author's Note:**

> Hi yes I absolutely created an OC based on the fact that Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins play brothers in Jurassic World. His name is Benjamin Rhodes and he's amazing. I hope you all enjoy this.

He was in college now. Benjamin Rhodes had been through hell and back, but he was in his first semester of college at New York University.

He was scared as hell.

The day had been fairly good. His things had been fully packed away the night before and his dad and pop made sure that he had everything he needed (plus they were so kind that they agreed to take the drive back to NYU if he needed a few more things from home).

The one thing he wanted from home they couldn’t give him though. 

He wanted to be _home_. Home was where Harley was staying up until 2 am doing his engineering homework. Home was where his dad was there to listen to him rant about anything happening in his life. Home was where he could ensure that his pop was safe because every time he came through that door, no matter how beat up he was, Benji knew that he was safe. 

His little brother had already video called him three times since he and his parents left campus five hours ago. 

The thing was, Harley was just as scared about Benji being away as Benji was. Harley knew that things at home were going to be different, and he hadn’t hesitated to express that sentiment that morning. 

_“Why does he have to leave?” Harley had asked dad._

_“Baby he wants to go to NYU. The NYU Semester starts today. Therefore, he has to leave. I can’t change that,” his dad had replied._

_Wide-eyed and scared as all hell, Benji locked eyes with James, his dad, and he walked over to him to give him a hug._

_“Hey hey I’m sorry. You know I’m happy for you and I know you’re going to be fine. If you need us you know we’re a flight away.”_

_A tear slipped as Benji held tighter to his father — he really dreaded this day._

Sitting on his bed, Benji looked through his scrapbook that Aunt Sharon and Uncle Steve had gifted him as a going away gift. It included pictures from when his dad and pops adopted him, to every birthday party. There were notes on most of the pages — cute encouraging ones obviously added by Uncle Steve.

He closed the book and sighed. Nothing seemed right. He had all of his things in his room but none of it had been put up or away _and_ his roommate still hadn’t arrived. He guessed he could understand seeing as the college advised a three-day period for arriving at campus. But he couldn’t help how lonely and small he felt in his room. 

Gathering all of his barely-there energy, Benji set about putting his clothes and other items away. It took him an hour, but he finished and the only thing he was missing was posters. 

“Okay,” he whispered to himself and went about getting ready to shower. 

After his first shower as a college student, Benji got dressed in pajamas and reached for his phone. 

The first number on speed-dial, _DAD_ , was what he clicked. 

“Hey Benji,” his dad answered and Benji sighed in relief. “Are you okay?” he asked and Benji went to answer before he heard mumbling and “It’s Benji,” on the other line. 

“Did I wake you? I’m sorry dad it’s not important.” It was obvious that Benjamin was about to start hyperventilating and his father, his crazy observational father, immediately sensed it. 

“Hey you woke us up but that’s fine okay? You’re alright and you’re on campus. What’s up bud?” Benji sighed and crossed his legs before speaking.

“I miss you guys so much.” He heard his dad sigh on the other line. 

“Tony shut the hell up,” was also what he heard, and he chuckled lightly. His parents were the best.

“We miss you, Benji. Is your roommate there?” 

“No,” he responded and heard his dad respond affirmatively. 

“Yeah, my roommate wasn’t in our room the first night I was on campus either. Made the night worse. Alright, do you wanna play your game?” 

Benji smiled because his dad always knew how to help him. 

“Yeah. Yeah okay.”

“Okay. The first blue thing you see?” 

“A pen on my desk.” 

“First red thing you see?”

“The red Christmas sweater pops got me last year.” 

The phone call went like that for five more minutes before his dad sighed.

“Listen, kid, I know your first day away from home can be rough. Hell if I could have, I would have called your grandma fifty times that night, and she would have yelled at my ass but I wouldn’t have cared.” Benji smiled at the mention of his grandma, Roberta. 

_God_ , he missed home. 

“But you brought pieces of home with you. You have your brother’s baseball mitt. You have your dad’s insufferable MIT sweater. You have my lucky socks. I promise you, you’ll be fine and if anything _does_ go wrong, you know pops and I will be there in a heartbeat. We love you.”

Benji sighed. His dad wasn’t getting it. “I know I have all that stuff from home dad but I just wish that I could _be_ home. This isn’t my home. Not yet at least.” 

He looked out his window and listened to the hustle and bustle of city life that never seemed to escape him. He missed the peace and quiet of the family house. He missed the late nights when the only sounds heard were the softness of whatever rock album Harley had discovered. 

“I want to be in my bed. I want to be in my room. I want to be back in our family house,” he continued.

“But you can’t, sweetie. You can’t. We can give you a virtual tour,” they both laughed at that. “But you can’t be here. Do you want me to wake up your hell-raising little brother and my oh-so-kind husband to say goodnight?”

“Yeah, dad. That’d be nice.” 

A moment later he heard a bit of mumbling and “It’s Benji. He wants you to say goodnight.”

“Hey, bro goodnight! Have fun at college.” Benji smiled as a tear slipped down his face. “Goodnight, Harls.” 

Another moment passed, and he heard his pops on the phone. “Benji?”

He sniffed, “Hey pop.” 

“Oh, honey. You suffering from the first-night jitters?” Benji chuckled wetly.

“Yeah. If that’s what you call them.” 

“Well I’ll tell you this; the next time you come home, you’re gonna get some _good_ home-cooked meals. I know that was my favorite part of coming home. And you’ll be back with us. It feels far away but I promise it’s not. This is a bump. You’ll get over it. I know you. I love you.”

“I love you, too, pops. Thank you.”

“Goodnight kiddo. Kick some NYU ass tomorrow okay?” 

“Will do,” he responded weakly and sniffled again. His dad was back in a second. 

“Hey, Benji. Listen we all love you here and like Tony said, this is a bump. You’ll get through it — or _over it_ as he so eloquently put it. You good?”

Ben smiled. “Yeah, dad. I think so. Or I will be at least.” 

“Good. I'm glad. Goodnight son. We’re just a call away if anything else pops up.”

“'Night dad. Love you.” 

His dad responded in kind, and he hung up the phone a mess. Violently wiping his face, Benji grabbed his favorite blanket from its place on the floor and put it around himself to smell home. His parents were right, he’d get through this.

That night, Benjamin Rhodes dreamt of a life where he could be at school and at home at the same time. It came from his longing to be in both places (and his desire to be home).


End file.
